High School athletes will be permitted to return to schools for summer workouts under national and state guidelines. National Federation of State High School Associations and PIAA issued guidelines this week for reopening summer practices


Will high school football return?

The Covid-19 pandemic has kept high school athletes at home for months, but that can change this summer based on local circumstances and guidelines, according to information released this week by the national and state governing bodies. 

The National Federal of State High School Associations [NFHS] issued their release on the suggested guidelines for high school state associations to use in reopening the schools for practices. 

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association [PIAA] followed up on those at its meeting on Wednesday, allowing those areas of the state that have seen their numbers of cases fall within acceptable guidelines for reopening. Technically, most school districts’ calendar does not end until June 30, but the PIAA said that athletes could perhaps start working out in the schools even earlier.

PIAA reopening guidelines

According to the Patriot-News website PennLive.com, the PIAA has set some short-term goals, but not long-term ones,

Teams will be allowed to restart athletic activities once the governor’s office gives approval to the school’s respective counties, the PIAA Board of Directors decided on Wednesday. While not providing a clear date for when workouts and team activities can resume, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to give executive director Bob Lombardi the sole authority to decide when workouts can resume ahead of the fall season …

For right now, nothing will be able to open until at least June 30, and Lombardi said all schools have closed activities until then, which is when the current school year ends.

But members of the board discussed how the restrictions in each phase could fluctuate over the coming weeks, and that it would be best not to make a decision based on the phases specifically. They said it would be possible that limited workouts could be permitted in the yellow phase in a few weeks, but that it is not allowed right now.

Edward Sutelan, “PIAA will follow Pa. reopening guidelines to decide 
when high school sports can start,” Patriot-News, May 21, 2020

National guidelines issued Wednesday
The national guidelines agree that the local situations should dictate when reopening can occur, and has issued an extensive list of recommendations to do so. The organizations are concerned about the health of the athletes as well as the value of sports to young people, but they are fully cognizant of the medical community warnings that a second wave of the coronavirus could recur in the fall,
The COVID-19 pandemic presents state high school associations with a myriad of challenges. The NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) offers this document as guidance on how state associations can consider approaching the many components of “opening up” high school athletics and activities across the United States. 
The NFHS SMAC believes it is essential to the physical and mental well-being of high school students across the nation to return to physical activity and athletic competition. The NFHS SMAC recognizes that it is likely that ALL students will not be able to return to – and sustain – athletic activity at the same time in all schools, regions and states. There will also likely be variation in what sports and activities are allowed to be played and held. While we would typically have reservations regarding such inequities, the NFHS SMAC endorses the idea of returning students to school-based athletics and activities in any and all situations where it can be done safely. 
Since NFHS member state associations are a well-respected voice for health and safety issues, the NFHS SMAC strongly urges that these organizations engage with state and local health departments to develop policy regarding coordinated approaches for return to activity for high school, club and youth sports. 

“Guidance for opening up high school athletics,” National Federation of State High School 
Associations (NFHS) Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC), May 15, 2020


NFHS guidelines keep numbers and social distancing
PIAA Director Bob Lombardi said that the state organization will evaluate the information from the NFHS in making its decisions, while also noting that the letter is a “resource and not a mandate,”
The information from the NFHS said that sports should be evaluated based on the risk involved, with high-contact sports like football and wrestling being considered higher risk and running events and golf to be lower risk.

The letter provided several phases for how high school athletic governing bodies should handle sports, with different levels of screening, facility cleaning, hydration, limitations on gathering, equipment, and return to physical activity. The NFHS recommended that high-school sporting events should not have more than 50 people in attendance until it reaches the third phase and that there should still be social distancing measures in place.

The first phase of the plan would not allow for athletes to pass with the same ball and small pods of people should be used for workouts.

Edward Sutelan, “PIAA will follow Pa. reopening guidelines to decide when high school sports can start,” Patriot-News, May 21, 2020

Conclusion

This is a good start, but it should be a gradual one. If any lessons should be gleaned from the reopening of the states themselves, it is that those that opened the bars and beaches and churches are now the ones that have the highest rates of recurrence of Covid. That is what the high school organizations want to prevent, and these national guidelines are a good starting point for states and schools to follow. 

Link for guidelines below

The national guidelines cover everything from covering your face during workout to testing regimens. I have provided that link below. 

National guidelines

https://www.nfhs.org/media/3812287/2020-nfhs-guidance-for-opening-up-high-school-athletics-and-activities-nfhs-smac-may-15_2020-final.pdf

PIAA story

https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2020/05/piaa-will-follow-pa-reopening-guidelines-to-decide-when-high-school-sports-can-start.html

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